Sunrise Links

Yesterday was an off day for both the Cup Finals and the NBA Playoffs, but there are still some things in the sports world we haven’t covered.

I finished Outliers yesterday and will probably have a review up sometime tomorrow. I also just started reading Searching for Bobby Orr, so that will be the next book on the reading list.

Yesterday the WNBA announced that Lifelock became self-aware and has taken over the Phoenix Mercury. I think the new jerseys speak directly to the financial state of the league, as well as just how far away from legitimate the WNBA is.

How David Stern can sit at that press conference with a straight face is beyond me. For as often as the NHL takes heat for the way it does business, at least they aren’t clinging to an entire league that’s hemorrhaging money.

Jean-Simon Allard wasn’t signed by the Sabres yesterday, effectively severing his ties with the organization. I agree with Kris Baker, Allard never really made an impact during his time in the Q, and most likely won’t be drafted later this month.

Despite June 9 rapidly aproaching, Jim Balsillie continues to make plans in Hamilton. Last week he unvieled plans to renovate Copps Coliseum, hoping to make it look something like this:

That’s a pretty incredible picture considering what it currently looks like. When I visited Copps just over a year ago, I wondered just how an NHL team would ever play there given the state of the arena. I’m very curious to see what changes would be made on the inside, but I don’t expect to ever see much more than that picture.

Jhonas Enroth was selected by Atlant Moscow Reg. in yesterday’s KHL Draft. To be fair, the team had six picks in the third round, so maybe they were just bored. Honestly, Chris and I were talking about this yesterday and neither of us really know what this means for Enroth. Our best guess is that Moscow would have his “rights” for three years, which would mean Enroth could potentially jump ship when his current deal ends.

Still, that’s a whole lot of speculation for something that won’t happen for some time. However with Lalime’s status still up in the air and the recent departure of Mikael Tellqvist, goaltenders are once again an important topic this summer. I don’t think Enroth is dressing behind Miller this fall, so look for another short-term solution to sit on the far right side of the bench this season.

On The Forecheck has the full draft results if you want to check out who else was picked.

The Mets are in Pittsburgh this week, which must be nice for Fernando Martinez. He must feel right at home in front of sub-10,000 person crowds. Just like being back in the minors.